SF GIANTS UPDATE: Tim Lincecum to miss next start

UPDATE, 5:20 p.m.: Tim Lincecum stood in front of his locker an hour before batting practice Monday shadow-pitching, a way to reinforce the correct mechanics he requires to be successful again. Lincecum will repeat the exercise on the bullpen mound in the coming days, but not on the game mound, at least not Thursday.

Manager Bruce Bochy announced what had been expected, that he will skip Lincecum’s turn in the rotation against the Rockies and pitch out of the bullpen “when he’s ready,” in other words, when the staff feels the two-time Cy Young winner has done enough work in side sessions to warrant game action.

Yusmeiro Petit will start instead unless he is needed out of the bullpen beforehand, less likely now that the Giants added an eighth reliever with George Kontos’ latest promotion Monday.

Bochy will not say how many starts Lincecum will miss, a decision that could hinge on Petit’s performance against the Rockies and how well Lincecum fares when he is summoned from the bullpen.

The irony is, Lincecum was rolling until he closed a 14-inning win at Philadelphia on July 22. His ERA in six starts since is 9.49.

Bochy and his staff have had some success getting pitchers on track by holding them back for one start, including once with Lincecum. Now, Bochy said, the pitcher needs to “clean up his delivery.”

“He’s been working hard,” Bochy said. “Sometimes you can tinker a little bit too much. You want to get him back to where he was six weeks ago. He was throwing as well as anybody.”

Bochy said it was “amazing, really” how one missed start can turn a pitcher around.

“I think more than anything it gives you a few more days to clear your head, not worry about your next start,” Bochy said. “You get two or three side sessions to clear your head, both on the mental side and physical side. Hitters, sometimes it’s amazing when not one day, but two days, can do. They come back as different players.”

As for Lincecum pitching out of the bullpen, Bochy said, “He’s done it. He’s done it in important parts of the season, too. He’s all for it. He knows this is a good time to back him off.”

Another revelation that should come as no surprise: We have seen the last of Marco Scutaro in 2014.

Bochy said second baseman Marco Scutaro is at home in Florida “resting” after his back flared up in Arizona last week.

“We don’t expect to see Marco this year,” Bochy said after revealing that Scutaro returned home to Florida after his back flared up again in Arizona last week.

It’s becoming more evident that Scutaro’s days as a ballplayer might be done, although nobody is saying so. He has one year remaining on his contract.

Brandon Belt (concussion symptoms) is still about two weeks away from baseball activity but has begun exercising.

ORIGINAL POST: Want to hear a stat that will curl your socks?

Since the Rockies swept a three-game series at AT&T Park in mid-June, they have lost 23 of 26 road games. Colorado is 18-44 on the road as it returns to San Francisco to start a four-game series tonight.

Let’s be blunt: The standings say the Giants are a playoff team right now, at 68-61, which is good enough for the second wild card. But if they really fancy themselves a playoff team they need to make hay against the Rockies this week and next, when they play seven times and finish their suspended game from May.

That’s eight outcomes out of 32 remaining against a team that has no Troy Tulowitzki, no Carlos Gonzalez and now no Michael Cuddyer, who returned to the disabled list.

The Rockies do have Nolan Arenado, who just won National League Player of the Week in helping the Rockies take three of five from the Royals and Marlins — at home.

The Giants open the day 4 1/2 games behind first-place Los Angeles in the West, three out in the loss column. Those teams will square off six times between Sept. 11-24. For those games to hold genuine meaning, the Giants need to close the deficit some. And their best chance is to take six or seven of the eight against Colorado, whom the Dodgers face six more times.

Including the final three games of the season, at Dodger Stadium.

The Giants still list no starter for Thursday. Let’s hope we find out the decision on Tim Lincecum today.

One set of player transactions. In the wake of Sunday’s bullpen implosion, the Giants recalled reliever George Kontos from Triple-A Fresno and optioned first baseman Adam Duvall, who just got named to the all-Pacific Coast League first team.

Tonight’s lineup: Buster Posey is at first base with Andrew Susac catching against the left-hander Tyler Matzek: